JANESVILLE — Jina Shinkay’s involvement at the Pregnancy Helpline & Resource Center in Janesville started in the simplest of ways and in the toughest of life moments — dropping off donations after several miscarriages and the stillborn birth of her daughter.
She later began organizing baby clothes one day a week, and then began shadowing counselors on call and completed training to answer hotline calls.
Now, she volunteers three days a week, helping to organize supplies and counsel and support new and expectant mothers in need.
The Pregnancy Helpline & Resource Center is located at 21 S. Jackson St., Suite C, Janesville. It has been serving the Rock County since 1983, and its services are free and confidential.
The helpline number is (608) 755-9739; volunteers respond to both calls and texts. Its email is onlinehelp@pregnancy-helpline.org.
“Sometimes you’re getting calls from moms who need help with tangible items like clothes or baby gear, and other times, you get calls from teenagers who are scared to talk to their parents about an unexpected pregnancy,” Shinkay said.
“You always want to approach it with an open and prayerful heart because you never know what situation will be on the other end of the line. Many moms are going through homelessness, fleeing domestic violence or just struggling to make ends meet. It’s a combination of meeting their immediate needs and knowing the resources available in Rock County to help improve their situation.”
She also helps organize events like a community baby shower coming up Sept. 24.
Community Baby Shower
The 21st annual Rock County Community Baby Shower will be held at Blackhawk Technical College, 6004 S. County Hwy G, in Janesville, from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24.
“We’ll have well over a hundred mamas coming through who are pregnant or just had a baby. We give away free diapers, clothing and just let them know about the resources that are available to them,” Shinkay said.
Personal journey
Shinkay’s journey to dedicated volunteer followed a period of deep grief and personal loss.
Her two daughters, now age 10 and 15, were 5 years old and 8 months old when her first husband passed away. The former kindergarten teacher, who worked for 17 years for the School District of Fort Atkinson, later remarried and the family moved to Janesville.
“I’ve experienced the journey of being a working mom and a single mom before meeting my current husband and moving to Janesville,” Shinkay said.
After marrying for the second time she and her husband, Sean, had hoped to expand their family.
“We had miscarriage after miscarriage and eventually had a stillborn daughter. It was a long, painful process,” Shinkay said.
“Even though there were a lot of tears and a lot of pain, I really felt like God showed us just how miraculous and precious human life is. I wanted to do something that would honor all the babies that we lost.”
That’s when she began dropping off donations.
“Every time I came in, everyone was so welcoming and thankful for the things that I brought. I knew this was the place I needed to be,” Shinkay said.
Today, she and her daughters volunteer at the Pregnancy Helpline & Resource Center. “It’s been lovely trying to get them into volunteering,” Shinkay said.
She said she knows “that I’ve done something to help another individual.”
“I know that I’ve helped make this community a better place to live. I get to do it with other incredible volunteers. It’s so fun to work with them. We laugh and we get to ooh and ah over all the adorable baby clothes that come in,” she said.
“I love seeing the generosity of this community,” Shinkay continued. “When I look around at what we have and remind myself that all of it is from community and church donations, it blows my mind. There is everything you would need to raise a baby in this space.”
“There’s just so much healing for me here. The satisfaction and the sense of joy that it brings me to help someone else, is a beautiful way to bring honor to them.”
Helpline
She said the helpline side of the operation is “unlike any other place I’ve been to. Miracles really do happen here.”
She said one particularly difficult recent day, volunteers were struggling to help a mother of two who was fleeing a domestic violence situation. They were hitting seeming dead ends in their effort to find her additional resources.
Then, a woman knocked on the door, introduced herself and her three children, and explained how the helpline had supported her through her toughest times, providing diapers, clothes and food. “You gave me the encouragement to keep going,” she said.
The woman then shared how she had found a good job she loved, moved into her first apartment and was even thinking about going back to school.
“It was incredible to see how our support had helped her turn her life around. It’s these stories that remind us why we do this work and the real difference we make,” Shinkay said.
The Pregnancy Helpline & Resource Center’s website, pregnancy-helpline.org, offers a host of resources.
“The trained volunteers of Pregnancy Helpline and Resource Center assist clients by sharing with them and caring for them in a full cycle approach through programs and/or services, which may include the following: pregnancy tests, pregnancy counseling, education and support, referral and advocacy for community resources, post-abortion recovery, adoption referral and support, material aid, abstinence and sexual integrity education,” its website says.
Hours and wish list
The Pregnancy Helpline & Resource Center is open for donations and walk-ins on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., or by appointment 6 days a week. To schedule an appointments, call (608) 755-9739 and a volunteer will meet you at the office.
A link to a donation wish list is on the center’s website; it takes users to Amazon.com. The wishlist can also be found at: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/31JH7MBK3154J/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex
Paypal donations can be made to the Pregnancy Helpline and Resource Center of Janesville, Inc.
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